The sport of bowling has existed for over 7,000 years, having been discovered in Egyptian ruins in about 5200 BC. Its popularity has persisted over the years and millions of Americans bowl each year. While typically considered to be a recreational sport, bowling has evolved to be part of the current competitive experience. As such, minor variations in bowling score can have substantial impact on outcome. Factors that can influence performance include underlying physical capacity, skill, past learned techniques, hand-eye coordination, degree of alertness, affective state, motivation, self-efficacy, and accuracy in predicting vector analysis concurrent with physical placement of these vectors (Boyce et al., J. Teaching in Physical Education 16:312-323 (1997)). In addition, the physical surroundings and ambient environment of a bowler is typically a turbulent sensory invasion: a cacophony of sounds from fellow bowlers and pins falling, a kaleidoscopic image of bowlers blurring the peripheral visual field, and an assault on gestation and olfaction by beer and pizza, superimposed upon by the aroma of stale cigarettes and old bowling shoes. Scientific studies of the effect of these factors on the performance of bowlers is sparse.
Baseball is another popular sport that is played by two opposing teams in which a pitcher throws a baseball toward a batter who attempts to hit the ball with a bat. When a ball is hit, the batter runs a course of four bases to score a run. Therefore, it is important for the batter to be proficient and accurate at hitting the baseball. Batters are not given much time to evaluate a pitch and must react quickly to decide whether or not the ball is hittable and within the strike zone (area through which a pitch must pass relative to the batter to count as a strike if not hit) and also hit the ball with power, skill and accuracy. Many training devices and techniques have been developed to aid in training a batter to accurately swing at a baseball. However, such devices and methods are generally overly complicated, cumbersome or difficult to employ.
Ambient aromas have been demonstrated to impact strength, leisure time activities, and cognitive tests involving precise hand-eye coordination (Raudenbush et al., J. Sport and Exercise Psychology 23: 156-160 (2001)). Certain odors have been shown to influence perception on different sensory spheres including perception of age, weight, and external space.
It would be useful to provide a means of enhancing an individual's performance in a sport activity that is non-invasive, convenient, safe, and easy to administer.